Saturday, 15 January 2011

Jesus!

I have been going through Helen Szirtes' notes on Mister Creecher. These are more detailed points following on from the changes I made in response to much broader queries about the book.

We are doing this part of the edit using 'track changes' in Word. All Helen's changes are highlighted and there are comments and questions in the margin. There weren't that many, but at this stage they always tend to be difficult to resolve.

One of the things that has come up in this book is the fact that I had the main character saying 'Jesus!' when shocked or surprised or angered. I had a directive to remove these or find a replacement.

Editing is like any form of negotiations - there is no point wasting time and effort and goodwill fighting fights you know you are bound to lose. This was one of those - although I did find it infuriating. Not just because I don't accept that it a character in a book cannot say things that the author or the reader might find offensive, but more that I find it impossible to replace it with anything that was not more offensive.

That aside, it was good to read through Mister Creecher again. I don't often get giddy about a book. Quite the reverse - I usually feel more and more depressed about it, until when it is finally published I have convinced myself that it must be absolute garbage and that I have wasted my life and brought shame to my family. But I'm quite excited about Mister Creecher.

Although there is plenty of time between now and its publication in June, for me to get depressed.

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About Me

I am an writer, illustrator and painter.
My most recent books are 'The Dead Men Stood Together' and 'The Last of the Spirits' published by Bloomsbury.
I am available for school, library and festival events and these can be arranged through the publicity department of my publishers or through Author Aloud. If you wish to contact me you can either do this through my publishers or via my agent (there is a link below) or simply leave a comment on the blog. Comments go into my email inbox before they are published.

UK paperback published by Bloomsbury October 2014

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Winner of BASH (Book Award St Helens) 2013. Highly Commended in the YA category of the Sheffield Children's Book Award 2012. Shortlisted for the Wandsworth FAB book awards. Shortlisted for the Coventry Inspiration Book Awards. Shortlisted for the North East Teenage Book Award 2012. Shortlisted for the UKLA Children's Book Award 12-16 Category 2013. Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2013. Longlisted for the Catalyst Book Award 2012/13. Longlisted for the Sussex Coast Schools Amazing Book Award 2013. Shortlisted for the Angus Book Award, shortlisted for the Falkirk RED Book Award 2013, chosen as a 'Future Classic' in the Booktrust Schools Library Pack

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Paperback published by Bloomsbury October 2011

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Shortlisted for the Leeds Book Award 2011. Shortlisted for the Salford Children's Book Award 2011. Longlisted for the UKLA Children's Book Award 2011 (12-16). Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2012

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Winner of the Dracula Society's Children of the Night Award 2009

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Shortlisted for the Salford Children's Book Award 2009, Longlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Prize 2009. Longlisted for the Doncaster Book Award 2009/10, longlisted for the Manchester Book Award 2010. Shortlisted for the Westminster Book Award 2010

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Published by Bloomsbury March 2011

UK edition published by Bloomsbury

Shortlisted for the UKLA Children's Book Award 2008. Longlisted for the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award 2008/9. Longlisted for the Manchester Book Award 2009. Longlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2009. Shortlisted for the Calderdale Children's Book of the Year 2009. Shortlisted for the North East Book Award 2009, shortlisted for the Coventry Inspiration Book Award 2010

US edition published by Bloomsbury

Portuguese edition published by Editora Bertrand

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Shortlisted for the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis 2011

Italian edition published by Newton Compton

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Dutch edition published by Pimento

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Shortlisted for a Mystery Writers of America 'Edgar' award 2004

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Published by Random House

Longlisted for the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award 2005. Shortlisted for the Gateshead Children's Book Award 2005